| Name · size | Status | Protection | CPU |
|---|
Hosts, storage and network are reserved for your organization. No shared hosts and no noisy neighbors, in the UPC data center you choose.
Hosts and VMs are onboarded to Azure Arc, so the Azure tools your team already uses work on your private cloud too.
Windows Server failover clustering keeps VMs running when a node fails, and live migration moves running VMs between nodes for patching and upgrades.
Azure Site Recovery replicates VMs to Azure as often as every 30 seconds. Hyper-V Replica keeps copies on dedicated hardware in a second UPC region.
Windows Server Datacenter covers unlimited Windows Server VMs on each licensed host, and Azure Hybrid Benefit lets eligible licenses move with workloads into Azure.
Generation 2 VMs on fast SSD and NVMe storage, sized to the workload, with GPU options for AI, machine learning and HPC.
Dates from Microsoft’s published lifecycle policy. Check Microsoft’s lifecycle pages for the latest information on Extended Security Updates.
Planning sketch with simple rules of thumb: 3 vCPU per physical core, nodes kept below 80% use, one spare node per cluster. Standard edition is shown with a 16-core minimum per node and Datacenter at about 5.8× the Standard price; Microsoft prices vary by agreement, so use your own quote. Your UPC architect builds the real design from an assessment.
Discover hosts, VMs, dependencies, Windows Server versions and license position, with Azure Migrate and UPC assessment tools.
A regional bank ran core banking middleware on Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V hosts near end of life. It moved to dedicated Hyper-V clusters on UPC and replicated critical VMs to Azure for recovery.
| AREA | BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|---|
| Support | Hosts near end of support | Windows Server 2025 clusters |
| Recovery | DR plan on paper | Tested failover to Azure |
| Oversight | Separate tools per site | Azure Arc view across both clouds |
A health system needed its EHR interfaces and imaging servers to stay on infrastructure it controls. It kept them on single-tenant Hyper-V and used Cyber Vault and Site Recovery for ransomware resilience.
| AREA | BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|---|
| Data | Mixed shared environments | Single-tenant UPC clusters |
| Ransomware | Backups reachable from production | Immutable copies in Cyber Vault |
| Patching | Weekend outages | Live migration, no downtime |
A university system on a fixed budget consolidated campus Hyper-V servers into one dedicated cloud, with a cluster per campus and Datacenter licensing covering every VM.
| AREA | BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Surprise refresh bills | Predictable monthly service |
| Licensing | Standard licenses stacked per host | Datacenter, unlimited VMs per host |
| Data | Scattered server rooms | In-state, on dedicated infrastructure |
A manufacturer facing a VMware renewal moved its Windows plant and ERP systems to Hyper-V on UPC during maintenance windows, and connected every plant over private links.
| AREA | BEFORE | AFTER |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing | Per-core VMware subscription | Hyper-V within Windows Server |
| Plants | Long links to one site | Private links via UnitedConnect® |
| Resilience | No tested DR | Site Recovery for ERP and plant systems |
| Area | Self-managed Hyper-V | All-in on Azure IaaS | Hyper-V on UPC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure | Your hardware and refresh cycles | Shared public cloud capacity | Dedicated, single-tenant UPC infrastructure |
| Cost model | Capital spend every refresh | Metered per hour, plus storage and data transfer | Predictable monthly service fee |
| Data location | Your data center | Azure regions | The UPC data center you choose, on hardware reserved for you |
| Operations | Your team patches, monitors and plans capacity | You still run the VMs and guest OS | UPC experts run hosts and clusters 24/7 |
| Disaster recovery | Separate DR site and project | Region pairs you design yourself | Azure Site Recovery or a second UPC region, tested with you |
| Azure services | Set up and connect yourself | Native | Azure Arc connected from day one |
| Change path | Locked to your hardware | Refactor to leave | Keep Hyper-V, burst to Azure, or replatform later |
No. Hyper-V on UPC is single tenant. Your hosts, storage and network are reserved for your organization, and business units are separated with their own clusters, networks and policies.
Hosts and VMs are onboarded to Azure Arc, so they appear in the Azure portal next to your Azure resources. From there you can use Azure Monitor, Defender for Cloud, Update Manager and Azure policy. Private connectivity to Azure runs over UnitedConnect®.
Yes. Azure Site Recovery replicates Hyper-V VMs to Azure as often as every 30 seconds and fails them over when you need it. If you would rather recover to dedicated hardware, Hyper-V Replica can send copies to a second UPC region. Many teams use both.
Often, yes, depending on your Microsoft agreement and Software Assurance or subscription terms. Otherwise UPC can provide licensing. Windows Server Datacenter covers unlimited Windows Server VMs on each licensed host, and Azure Hybrid Benefit lets eligible licenses follow workloads into Azure.
No. VMs move in waves after their disks are converted to VHDX and tested. VMware can run alongside on UPC for vendor-certified applications for as long as you need.
Start with the support clock above and an assessment. We typically build new Windows Server 2025 Hyper-V clusters on UPC, then move or upgrade VMs wave by wave, beginning with the systems that have the least time left.
Yes. Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE and other major distributions run on Hyper-V with built-in integration services.
